Railroad-gate



UNITE sTATEs PAT D. W. COMSTOCK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RAILROAD-GATE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 26,018, dated November 8, 18592 To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, D. IV. CoMs'rooK, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and Improved Gate for Railroads, Snc.; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure l represents a longitudinal vertical section of my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of ditto.

Similar letters of reference in both views indicate corresponding parts.

The great many misfortunes arising from cattle running on the track make a gate that opens automatically when the train approaches and closes as soon as the train has passed, of great importance.

Such a gate is the object of my invention which consists in placing the ends of two pairs of adjoining rails on a rising and falling platform that is suspended from the short arms of crank levers to the long arms of which the two panels of the gate are secured so that a slight depression of said platform causes the gate to swing open as will be hereinafter more fully explained.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will proceed to describe it.

A A represent the sleepers or crossties which suppe-rt the rails, B B. One of these sleepers, A, has a recess, a, cut out in the center, and the ends of this recess are furnished with grooves, that form the guides for a rising and falling platform C. This platform is of the same width as the tie, and it supports the ends of two pairs of ad joining rails, B, being suspended from rods, c, that are secured to the short arms, CZ, of two crank-levers, CZ e. Said crank levers have their fulcra on pins, f, fastened in the top-bar, D, that is supported by the standards, E, and suspended from their long arms, c, are the panels, F, which form a gate across the whole width of a railroad track.

The weight of these panels is such that the same keep the platform, C, together wit-h the ends of the rails on the same raised, as

clearly represented in the drawings. But if an additional weight be placed on the rails, or on the platform, the latter sinks down and the panels, F, are caused to swing open in the direction of the arrows marked on them in Fig. 2. As soon, therefore, as the front wheels of a locomotive or of a car pass on the rails, B, t-he platform begins to sink down causing the gate to swing open and leave a free passage for the train;

and as soon as the last pair of wheels of the train pass from the rails, B, the gate closes again by its own gravity.

It will be easily understood that the gate swings open only when sufficient weight is 65 placed on the rails, B, and the weight of the two panels can easily be so adjusted that an accidental opening of the gate by cattle stepping on one of the rails is precluded.

The recess, a, under the platform may be My invention is made to adapt itself to farm gates by placing a platform on the rails, B. In this case however it is necessary to retain the gate by a latch that is raised by the person approaching on horseback or in a carriage.

lVhat I claim as new, and desire to Secure by Letters Patent, is

Placing the ends of two pairs of adjoining rails, B, on a rising and falling platform, C, when the latter is suspended from the short arms, CZ, of crank-levers, Z e, the the long arms, e, of which carry the panels, F, of a gate, substantially in the manner and for the purpose described.

D. W. COMSTOCK.

Vitnesses E. GILBERT CURTIS, D. EUGENE DAVIS. 

